Into the Maelstrom examines in two volumes the history, practice and context of musical improvisation, notably the post-1959 ‘school’ known as free improvisation. The source material includes primary research through face to face interviews, alongside systematic study of archive materials (personal, private and institutional), published and unpublished literature and interviews, film, audio recordings, photographs, magazine articles and personal experience. The intention is that it should function as a history, source book, theoretical overview and research companion for the theory and practice of improvised music.